The region of our solar system betweenMercury and Mars has very few asteroids, w
ID: 1765143 • Letter: T
Question
The region of our solar system betweenMercury and Mars has very few asteroids, while the regionbetween Mars and Jupiter has many asteroids. Based on what you havelearned, what is the most likely explanation for the lack ofasteroids between Mercury and Mars?All the asteroids that formed between Mercuryand Mars later migrated to the asteroid belt between Mars andJupiter. It was too hot for asteroids to form in thispart of the solar system. Gravity was too weak to allow asteroids to formin this part of the solar system. There were very few planetary leftovers in thisregion, because most of the solid material was accreted by theterrestrial planets as the planets formed. The region of our solar system betweenMercury and Mars has very few asteroids, while the regionbetween Mars and Jupiter has many asteroids. Based on what you havelearned, what is the most likely explanation for the lack ofasteroids between Mercury and Mars?
All the asteroids that formed between Mercuryand Mars later migrated to the asteroid belt between Mars andJupiter. It was too hot for asteroids to form in thispart of the solar system. Gravity was too weak to allow asteroids to formin this part of the solar system. There were very few planetary leftovers in thisregion, because most of the solid material was accreted by theterrestrial planets as the planets formed.
Explanation / Answer
Gravity wastoo weak to allow asteroids to form in this part of the solarsystem the above answer can be explained by "The most commonly acceptedtheory, though, states that asteroids are pieces of matter thatnever coalesced to form a planet. The fact that the combined massof all the asteroids is far less than the mass of most planets ledscientist to believe asteroids lack the gravity necessary tocoalesce into a planet."